Modding SW3?

[Goblin Wizard]

It depends. If you changed only player version, no problem.
Which files did you modify?

I haven't bothered modding ships yet, but like Goblin Wizard mentions, ships come in many different variations.

When we say "Bident" we think "oh, missile ship", but when you run a search though the definitions in Carcasses.xml there's actually 8 versions of those. Then from those 8 definitions, ShipDescriptions.xml expands it into 23 actual loadouts -- I'm guessing the player one is the one with the "_pl" tag (the others are like "_pat" for patrol and "_tri" for Triada). I'm not quite sure why they have a number behind them, though (_pl0, _pl1), but it's likely just multiple variations of the same ship for that faction.

This is why I haven't bothered with ships yet. Too many variations to keep track of. I might be using my script to tweak the hp and shield restore values though.

Originally Posted by Goblin Wizard

There is another parameter called EPR. It stands for english RCS (radar cross section). I really would like to know how all these parameters influence each other.
A little about sensor resolution here.

Not just ships but missiles have this EPR value as well. In Rockets.xml, all rocket definitions are using the same EPR value (0.05). I'm not sure how it relates to radar, because in Modules.xml rocket entries don't have a radar range - they simply have min/max firing range. Additionally, detonators for MIRV-type rockets have a <radius_search_target> value. I suppose this is "radar" for the secondary warheads it splits into.

In Modules.xml radars modules have 2 values, resolution and max_distance. In Carcasses.xml ship definitions only have EPR value (just like missiles? hmmm).

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Edit:
One more thing, I was comparing the so-called rapid fire heavy guns and kinetic heavy guns because one of the gunnery perks says it improves skill on both "small guns and rapid fire guns". But looking at the Modules.xml entry for the M-106 Bardiche ("HC1", heavy kinetic gun) and the M-200E Vulcan ("VC1", heavy rapid fire gun), how does the game tell one is a rapid fire weapon while the other is not? They are both using IMPACT damage_type. Actually even plasma guns do IMPACT damage (huh wtf??). So I took a closer look at the guns, and all of them either deal IMPACT or LASER damage. Only two types of damage?

There is a graph_type, and this one does show more variety (BIG, SMALL, PLASMA, LASER) but I thought this was referring to the projectile graphics. By the way it seems like the sfx_index are referring to entries in \Data\PFX\Projectiles.sfx (e.g. the Alien gun "ASG" is type SMALL and sfx index 2, and if you look into Projectiles.sfx under the small guns' entries ("TracerSFX_"), the third entry (0, 1, 2) has a COLOR RGB index of 14,144,215... exactly the light blue colour of the alien gun's bullets.

I need to find the perks so I can see how gunnery is being calculated.

[Kothyxaan]

Originally Posted by Goblin Wizard

It depends. If you changed only player version, no problem.
Which files did you modify?

ah ok, so all the _pl's are ok to edit, the npc ships go by the carcass and any changes to the ships texture/interface/carcass folder are only used by the play?

Damn, adding sound effects to Rockets.xml is bugged. Notice how all entries have blank <work_sound> tags? (They are just declared as "<work_sound/>".)

If I attempt to add a sound, e.g. <work_sound>horn3_2.wav</work_sound>, the sound works (but it's repeated as long as the missile is flying, so it's kind of odd), but the game CTDs when the missile hits the target. Unfortunately LOGfile.txt does not say what caused it, it just complains about memory access violation. Damn.

Also, I cannot find where the missile firing sound is called. I know the file, it is "s_rocket_launch.wav", but I cannot find references to it. The game just plays it as if it were hardcoded

This is unfortunate because sounds are defined and used in Carcasses.xml and they seems fine there.

Edit:
Here's the error. I tested on the T3 Supernova Torpedo since I didn't mod that one previously. Without sound = ok. With sound = CTD upon explosion.

Originally Posted by LOGfile.txt

(15:31:44) (INFO) LoadFromStream_GameInterface: result: Ok!
(15:31:44) (INFO) LoadFromStream_MusicPlayList: result: Ok!
(15:31:44) (INFO) LoadFromStream_LocationManager: result: Ok!
(15:31:44) (INFO) LoadFromStream_TradeSystem: result: Ok!
(15:31:45) (INFO) LoadFromStream_QuestManager2: result: Ok!
(15:31:45) (INFO) LoadFromStream_PortalManager: result: Ok!
(15:31:45) (INFO) LoadFromStream_RecruitManager: result: Ok!
(15:31:45) (INFO) ExecuteScriptFile - DATA\Scripts\Locations\elio\functions.script
(15:31:45) (INFO) ExecuteScriptFile - DATA\Scripts\Quests\MISSION_4_5\AEROGRAPHY_ELIO.sc ript

[EXCEPTION] 0x0060df71 EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION (The thread attempted to read from or write to a virtual address for which it does not have the appropriate access.)
[EXCEPTION] [INFO] Memory Usage = 230.816406 Mb
[EXCEPTION] [INFO] heapchk return = -2 HEAP Ok

As you can see, nothing is wrong prior to that. I fire the torpedo and watch as it flies to the target (and the sound file plays while it flies). As soon as the missile hits target and explodes... CTD.

[Goblin Wizard]

Yes. You can change the sound but file name "s_rocket_launch.wav" is hardcoded.
"work_sound" is like a sound of working engine. That's why it's repeated. I don't think it's odd. But it's interesting experiment. I'll have to check it.

[StarShatter]

I was playing around with the 'amount of tractor beams' on the mastiff (I hope I was changing the Mastiff LOL). And all it really seemed to do was add points for the beginning of the tractor beam. There was still only 1 beam active at a time.

Long weekend now, should be able to get back to doing ships.
Right now I'm just playing... Just made a little money.

I sold everything I had, just to see how much money I could get. No photo manipulation, I was gonna highlight the money in paint, but that would suggest trickery lol. Right after finishing mission were you protect the two traders for the USS, on hard mode it took a faaaaair few resets, $500K seems like pocket change now. I was .2 EXP off getting Deadly Missiles 1 right before meeting that ambush. Didn't take too long either, I was just doing it while watching TV and eating dinner.

Oh and anyone know how EXP gain from handing in pods works? I'm saving up for when Greyhair joins.